The Moldovan-German Cultural Week that will be celebrated in Chisinau on May 10-15 will include a number of events that emphasize the presence of Germany in the history of Bessarabia from 1814 until present, IPN reports.

In a news conference, German Ambassador Matthias Meyer made public the cultural program of the Moldovan-German week that is staged on the occasion of Europe Day.

“200 years ago, German colonists immigrated to Bessarabia at the invitation of Tsar Alexander I. His order read that hardworking people were needed to develop agriculture in Bessarabia. After the 1940s, the Bessarabian Germans were repatriated owing to collectivization and the pressure exerted by the Soviet Union,” said the ambassador.

The week will start with the unveiling of the bust of Carol Schmidt, who was mayor of Chisinau between 1877 and 1903. The bust, made by Moldovan sculptor Veaceslav Jiglitski, was financed by the local administration of Mannhein, which is twinned with Chisinau, with the support of the Embassies of Germany and Poland. The monument will be located opposite the National Philharmonic, near the Memorial House of Carol Schmidt.

According to the ambassador, Carol Schmidt promoted the same values as today, including infrastructure, the fight against corruption and maintaining of harmony in the interethnic communities.

Another event of the week is the exhibition “German footsteps in Moldova 1814 – 2014. Traditions and modernization” that will be opened at the National Museum of Arts of Moldova on May 12 at 3pm. The opening will be attended by the Vice President of the German Bundestag Ulla Schmidt and Moldovan Parliamentary Speaker Igor Corman.

There will be presented the book of Missis Ute Schmidt “Bessarabia – German Colonists from the Black Sea”, the updated version translated into Romanian, and a biography of Mayor Carol Schmidt and documents about his work to modernize Chisinau.

The movie “Home in the Marienfeld” will be premiered at Gaudeamus Movie Theater on May 12 at 6pm. It was produced by Moldova 1 in cooperation with Deutsche Welle. It is about the meeting of the successors of the German colonists from the village Marienfield, Cimislia, with the current inhabitants of the village.

A concert will be given at the Organ Hall on May 13 at 6pm. It will include a musical composition by Anastasia Lazarencu in honor of Carol Schmidt. Entrance to the film and the concert is free.

The Moldovan-German Cultural Week will end with a two-day conference, on May 14 and 15, organized in cooperation with the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. It will involve people of science from Germany and Moldova, who will discuss historical and social aspects of the life of the Bessarabian Germans and aspects of the current cooperation between Moldova and Germany.